WASHINGTON, Feb 4 – U.S. and British forces launched joint strikes on Saturday against targets in the Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen, aiming at degrading the militant group’s capabilities to attack international shipping, said the U.S. Pentagon.
Carried out with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, and New Zealand, the strikes targeted 13 locations associated with the Houthis’ deeply buried weapons storage facilities, missile systems and launchers, air defense systems, and radars, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement.
He said the operation “sends a clear message to the Houthis.”
During the strikes, the U.S. military deployed F/A-18 fighter jets on board USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier and fired Tomahawk cruise missiles from American warships deployed to the Red Sea, according to U.S. media reports citing U.S. officials.
It was the third time in recent days that the U.S. and British coalition launched strikes against Houthi targets, which also followed the U.S. retaliatory airstrikes in Iraq and Syria on Friday in response to a drone attack by regional militia groups that killed three American service members and injured over 40 others.
Also on Saturday, the U.S. military conducted strikes against six Houthi anti-ship cruise missiles to be launched against ships in the Red Sea.
On Friday, U.S. forces shot down several Houthi drones over the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea.
